H.B. Fuller Reports First Quarter Fiscal 2022 Results

Earnings per share (EPS) of $0.69; Adjusted EPS of $0.80 up 21% year-over-year

Adjusted EBITDA of $113M, up 12% year-over-over

Organic revenue growth of 21% driven by strong volume growth and pricing gains

Company raises its full year guidance

H.B. Fuller Company (NYSE: FUL) today reported financial results for its first quarter ended Feb. 26, 2022.

Items of Note for First Quarter 2022

• Significant revenue and earnings growth versus the first quarter of fiscal 2021 was driven by outstanding operational execution, strong volume growth and pricing gains.
• Net revenue increased 18% versus last year. Organic revenue increased 21%, with strong double-digit organic revenue growth in all three Global Business Units (GBUs).
• Strong volume growth, pricing gains and cost efficiencies resulted in net income of $38 million; adjusted EBITDA of $113 million increased 12% year over year.
• Earnings per diluted share (EPS) were $0.69; adjusted EPS of $0.80 increased 21% versus the prior year quarter.
• Closed the Apollo and Fourny acquisitions which significantly expand our Construction Adhesives footprint in Europe.

Summary of First Quarter 2022 Results

Net revenue of $857 million increased 18% compared with the first quarter of 2021. Foreign currency exchange rates unfavorably impacted revenue by 3.7%. Acquisitions favorably impacted revenue by 0.9%. Organic revenue increased 20.8% versus last year with 6.1% from volume growth and 14.7% from pricing. All three GBUs delivered mid-teens percentage or higher organic revenue growth compared with the prior year.

Gross profit was $213 million. Adjusted gross profit of $214 million increased 10% versus the same period last year. Gross profit margin and adjusted gross profit margin declined year over year as higher sales volume and pricing gains were offset by elevated raw material and freight costs. Selling, General and Administrative (SG&A) expense was $156 million. SG&A and adjusted SG&A improved as a percent of revenue compared with the first quarter last year resulting from strong volume leverage and general expense controls. Adjusted SG&A as a percent of revenue improved by 210 basis points versus with last year.

As a result of these factors, net income attributable to H.B. Fuller in the quarter was $38 million, or $0.69 per diluted share. Adjusted net income attributable to H.B. Fuller of $44 million and adjusted EPS of $0.80 were up 26% and 21%, respectively, versus the same period last year. Adjusted EBITDA of $113 million increased 12% compared with the prior year.

“H.B. Fuller had a strong start to fiscal 2022, with 21% growth in organic revenues and adjusted EPS. We also delivered adjusted EBITDA growth of 12% which exceeded our guidance for the quarter,” said Jim Owens, H.B. Fuller president and chief executive officer. “Our momentum was driven by volume growth and strong pricing performance in all three of our global business units. Our remarkable first-quarter results are a direct result of executing our multi-year strategy to strengthen our operational agility and grow our portfolio of highly specialized solutions to solve customers’ toughest adhesion problems.

Owens continued, “The unexpected and tragic events in Ukraine have all of us focused on the safety of people in the region. From an H.B. Fuller business perspective, Russia and Ukraine make up less than one percent of our annual revenue, however, these events have dramatically increased the level of supply chain uncertainty and accelerated inflationary pressures in an already fragile environment. We have moved quickly to take additional actions to secure global supply and to strategically price our products aligned with the value we deliver. H.B. Fuller’s solutions are critical for our customers to meet high demand for durable goods, electronics, packaged products, transportation, solar panels, hygiene and medical products, building construction and maintenance, and we remain confident in our ability to deliver strong results in this turbulent environment. We have increased our outlook for fiscal 2022 to reflect the contributions from our recent acquisitions of Apollo and Fourny and our strong performance in the first quarter. As we continue to execute our strategy, we are well-positioned to drive sustainable shareholder value in 2022 and in the years ahead.”

Key Balance Sheet and Cash Flow Items

At the end of the first quarter of fiscal 2022, the company had cash on hand of $63 million and total debt equal to $1,914 million. This compares to cash and debt levels of $81 million and $1,758 million, respectively, in the same period last year. As expected, cash flow from operations declined compared with the prior year driven by working capital due to increased sales, significantly higher raw material costs and extended lead times. Capital expenditures of $49 million increased year over year primarily due to timing of projects.

Fiscal 2022 Outlook

H.B. Fuller has updated its outlook for fiscal year 2022 based on current market conditions and to include the impact from the Apollo and Fourny acquisitions which were completed in January 2022. The company’s outlook is based on the following planning assumptions:

• Raw material and delivery costs are expected to continue to rise as the year progresses primarily driven by increasing industrial demand and supply constraints of U.S. petrochemicals. The company is now anticipating an increase of approximately 12% to 15% in the cost of raw materials in the first half of 2022 versus the fourth quarter 2021 exit rate. H.B. Fuller implemented annualized price adjustments of approximately $130 million in the first quarter of this year and is planning an additional $175 million of increases in the second quarter. When combined with annualized price increases of approximately $450 million executed in fiscal 2021, the company’s total pricing actions are anticipated to more than offset raw material and delivery cost increases. The company is prepared to implement further increases as necessary.
• Based on current conditions and planned pricing actions, the company now anticipates year-on-year organic revenue growth of 15% to 20%, compared to its prior guidance provided in January for 10% to 15% organic growth. Foreign currency exchange rates are anticipated to have an unfavorable impact of 3% to 4% on full year net revenue growth versus fiscal 2021. The Apollo and Fourny acquisitions are expected to contribute approximately $60 million of revenue in 2022.
• We now anticipate full year adjusted EBITDA in the range of $530 to $550 million, compared with the prior guidance of $515 to $535 million, reflecting the impact of acquisitions as well as the strong performance in the first quarter.
• Including the impact from the acquisitions, we now expect full year net interest expense of $75 to $80 million, and depreciation and amortization of approximately $150 million.
• Working capital as a percentage of revenue is expected to decline to below 16% by fiscal 2022 year-end resulting in more normalized levels of cash flow generation for the remainder of the year.
• Total capital investments for the year are expected to increase to a range of $105 to $115 million, and net debt to EBITDA is anticipated to be between 3.0x and 3.3x at year-end 2022, inclusive of the impact of the recently announced acquisitions.
• Based on these factors, management anticipates adjusted EPS of $4.10 to $4.35, compared to its prior guidance of $4.00 to $4.25.

Conference Call

The company will hold a conference call on March 24, 2022, at 9:30 a.m. CT (10:30 a.m. ET) to discuss its results. Interested parties may listen to the conference call on a live webcast. The webcast, along with a supplemental presentation, may be accessed from the company’s website at https://investors.hbfuller.com. Participants should access the webcast 10 minutes prior to the start of the call to install and test any necessary software and audio connections. A telephone replay of the conference call will be available from 12:30pm CT on March 23, 2022 through 10:59pm CT on March 31, 2022. To access the telephone replay dial (800) 585-8367 or (416) 621-4642, and enter Conference ID: 5892118.

Regulation G

The information presented in this earnings release regarding consolidated and segment organic revenue growth, operating income, adjusted gross profit, adjusted gross profit margin, adjusted selling, general and administrative expense, adjusted income before income taxes and income from equity investments, adjusted income taxes, adjusted effective tax rate, adjusted net income, adjusted diluted earnings per share and adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization (EBITDA) does not conform to U.S. generally accepted accounting principles (U.S. GAAP) and should not be construed as an alternative to the reported results determined in accordance with U.S. GAAP. Management has included this non-GAAP information to assist in understanding the operating performance of the company and its operating segments as well as the comparability of results to the results of other companies. The non-GAAP information provided may not be consistent with the methodologies used by other companies. All non-GAAP information is reconciled with reported U.S. GAAP results in the “Regulation G Reconciliation” tables in this press release with the exception of our forward-looking non-GAAP measures contained above in our Fiscal 2022 Guidance, which the company cannot reconcile to forward-looking GAAP results without unreasonable effort.

About H.B. Fuller

Since 1887, H.B. Fuller has been a leading global adhesives provider focusing on perfecting adhesives, sealants and other specialty chemical products to improve products and lives. With fiscal 2021 net revenue of $3.3 billion, H.B. Fuller’s commitment to innovation and sustainable adhesive solutions brings together people, products and processes that answer and solve some of the world's biggest challenges. Our reliable, responsive service creates lasting, rewarding connections with customers in electronics, disposable hygiene, medical, transportation, aerospace, clean energy, packaging, construction, woodworking, general industries and other consumer businesses. And, our promise to our people connects them with opportunities to innovate and thrive. For more information, visit us at https://www.hbfuller.com/.

Safe Harbor for Forward-Looking Statements

Certain statements in this press release may be considered forward-looking statements within the meaning of the federal securities laws, including Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended. Such statements often address expected future business and financial performance, financial condition, and other matters, and often contain words or phrases such as “anticipate,” “believe,” “estimate,” “expect,” “intend,” “may,” “opportunity,” “outlook,” “plan,” “project,” “seek,” “should,” “strategy,” "target," “will,” “will be,” “will continue,” “will likely result,” “would” and similar expressions, and variations or negatives of these words or phrases. These statements are subject to various risks and uncertainties that could cause our actual results to differ materially from those in the forward-looking statements, including but not limited to the following: the consequences of the COVID-19 outbreak and other pandemics on our operations and financial results; the impact on the supply chain, raw material costs and pricing of our products due to the Russia-Ukraine war; the impact on our margins and product demand due to inflationary pressures; the substantial amount of debt we have incurred to finance our acquisition of Royal, our ability to repay or refinance our debt or to incur additional debt in the future, our need for a significant amount of cash to service and repay the debt and to pay dividends on our common stock, the effect of debt covenants that limit the discretion of management in operating the business or in paying dividends; our ability to pay dividends and to pursue growth opportunities if we continue to pay dividends according to the current dividend policy; our ability to achieve expected synergies, cost savings and operating efficiencies from our restructuring initiatives and operational improvement projects within the expected time frames or at all; our ability to effectively implement Project ONE; uncertain political and economic conditions; fluctuations in product demand; competing products and pricing; our geographic and product mix; availability and price of raw materials; disruptions to our relationships with our major customers and suppliers; failures in our information technology systems; regulatory compliance across our global footprint; trade policies and economic sanctions impacting our markets; changes in tax laws and tariffs; devaluations and other foreign exchange rate fluctuations; the impact of litigation and investigations, including for product liability and environmental matters; impairment charges on our goodwill or long-lived assets; the effect of new accounting pronouncements and accounting charges and credits; and similar matters. Many of the foregoing risks and uncertainties are, and will be, exacerbated by COVID-19 and the Russia-Ukraine war and the resulting deterioration of the global business and economic environment.

Additional information about these various risks and uncertainties can be found in the “Risk Factors” section of our Form 10-K filings, and any updates to the risk factors in our Form 10-Q and 8-K filings with the SEC, but there may be other risks and uncertainties that we are unable to identify at this time or that we do not currently expect to have a material impact on the business. You should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date they are made. We do not undertake to update or revise any forward-looking statements, except as required by law.

¹³ We use the term “organic revenue” to refer to net revenue, excluding the effect of foreign currency changes and acquisitions and divestitures. Organic growth reflects adjustments for the impact of period-over-period changes in foreign currency exchange rates on revenues and the revenues associated with acquisitions and divestitures.

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